Lady Griz get their shot at unbeaten BYU - University of Montana Athletics

It will be a battle of early unbeatens when Montana continues its non-conference schedule on Saturday afternoon with a game at BYU.

The Lady Griz (1-0) and Cougars (2-0) will tip off at 2 p.m. at the Marriott Center in Provo.

It's the first of three straight games against Big 12 opponents for Montana, which plays at Kansas State on Tuesday, then returns home to host Houston next Friday night.

Montana's four-game run against high-level opponents will conclude with a visit to Gonzaga on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Bulldogs are the heavy favorites in the new Pac-12.

The Lady Griz opened their season with a 91-45 home win over Montana Western on Tuesday night.

BYU, which had a 120-36 win in an exhibition game against Western Colorado, opened the season this week with home wins over Idaho State and Portland.

Coverage: Saturday's game will stream on ESPN+ and air locally on KGRZ 1450 AM/92.7 FM with Asher Lynde on the call.

At a glance (Montana):

* The Lady Griz opened their season on Tuesday with a 91-45 home win over NAIA Montana Western, the most points Montana has scored under second-year coach Nate Harris.

* Montana shot 34.2 percent in the first half against the Bulldogs and led just 32-28 at the half before exploding offensively over the game's final 20 minutes.

* The Lady Griz averaged nearly three points per minute in the second half, out-scoring Western 59-17 over the final 20 minutes on 24-of-40 (.600) shooting. They went 7 for 14 from the 3-point line.

* Montana had three first-year players in the starting lineup and all eight newcomers to the team saw minutes. Twelve of the 13 players who got on the court scored, 10 had at least one assist.

* Kennedy Moore had one game of 10 or more points in two seasons at Wake Forest. She had 10 on Tuesday on 5-of-6 shooting while adding six rebounds and two steals.

* Point guard Dominique Nesland had a plump stat line of 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

* Shay Shippen hadn't played in a game since last Dec. 6 when she was at Columbia. She went for eight points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal in 17 minutes in her first collegiate start.

* Paige Lofing had one game of 10 or more points last season at Gonzaga. She matched that in her first game at Montana, hitting a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers on her way to 11 points.

* Montana's four true freshmen all played, with Hayden Kaut making the splashiest debut. She hit three 3-pointers and scored a team-high 13 points, with six rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

* Avory DeCoite packed three steals, three rebounds and two assists into 12 minutes, while Kate Holmquist hit a pair of 3-pointers and had eight points and three assists in 13 minutes.

* Two of Montana's returning starters got the start on Tuesday, with Avery Waddington totaling nine points, 11 rebounds and a team-high five assists.

* It was the 11th career game with double-figure rebounds for Waddington, who was second-team All-Big Sky last season and Preseason All-Big Sky this year.

* Rae Ehrman scored nine points in 12 minutes off the bench, going 3 for 5 from the 3-point line.

* Montana's 91 points and 51 rebounds were its most since going for 107 points and 59 rebounds in a 107-56 home win over Evergreen State in November 2024.

* Montana had 25 assists on Tuesday, the most for the Lady Griz since having 25 in an 87-46 home win over Portland State in January 2024.

* Montana's 15 steals were its most since swiping 18 in a 61-33 home win over College of Idaho in January 2021.

* Montana's best 3-point shooting seasons have come the last three years: 357 makes in 2023-24, 283 last season and 282 in 2024-25.

* The Lady Griz attempted more than half of their shots last season (908 of 1,769) from the 3-point line but shot only 31.2 percent from the arc.

* The Lady Griz got off to a good start on Tuesday, going 11 for 29 (.379). Five players hit 3-pointers, with Kaut and Ehrman hitting three each, Lofing and Holmquist two each.

* Kaut led Montana in scoring (13) in her freshman debut and also led the team in blocks (2) and tied for the team high in steals (3).

* It was the most points by a freshman in a season opener since Avery Waddington went for 13 points in a road loss at Gonzaga to open the 2024-25 season.

* Montana held Western to 6-of-28 (.214) shooting in the second half, 26.7 percent shooting for the game, the best for the Lady Griz since holding Seattle Pacific to 25.9 percent shooting last season.

At a glance (BYU):

* The Cougars are under second-year coach Lee Cummard, who led BYU to a 26-12 finish a season ago, the most wins for the program since the 2021-22 team under Jeff Judkins went 26-4.

* The Cougars lost in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, then were passed over for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

* BYU accepted a spot to the WBIT and made a big run, taking down Missouri, Stanford and Kansas on its way to the championship game, where it fell 81-64 to Columbia and a sidelined Shippen.

* Delaney Gibb was voted first-team All-Big 12 last season, Olivia Hamlin was honorable mention and made the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

* Gibb was voted to the 10-player Preseason All-Big 12 Team this year, one of four unanimous selections to the squad.

* Gibb also was one of 50 players to make the Naismith Trophy Watch List for national player of the year.

* BYU, after tying for ninth in the Big 12 last season with a 9-9 record, was picked seventh in this year's preseason poll.

* In Tuesday's 67-50 home win over Idaho State, the Cougars led just 25-24 at the half after going 1 for 18 from the 3-point line through the first 20 minutes before pulling away in the second half.

* Gibb had 17 points, the only Cougar in double figures, and added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

* BYU forced 20 turnovers and grabbed 23 offensive rebounds but only turned those into 13 second-chance points.

* In Thursday night's 74-64 home win over Portland, the Cougars again got off to a slow start, trailing 34-28 at the half.

* The game flipped in the third quarter, when BYU out-scored Portland 33-10, shooting 12 of 20 in the period and hitting four of eight 3-point attempts.

* Gibb was limited to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, but four players scored 10 or more, with Hamlin going for 15.

* BYU is shooting only 35.5 percent through two games but is holding its opponents to 34.3 percent shooting.

* The Cougars are 16 for 70 (.229) from the 3-point line this season but have a rebounding margin of +16.5/game.

Series history:

* Montana leads the all-time series 8-4 and has gone 4-1 against the Cougars in Provo.

* The teams played four times in the 80s, six times in the 90s and early in the 2000-01 season.

* They went more than two decades between match-ups before playing last season in Missoula, a game BYU won 70-69.

* With Gibb sidelined, BYU led 38-34 at the half, 55-54 after three quarters.

* Montana fought back to build a pair of five-point leads in the fourth quarter, the last a 69-64 advantage on a Mack Konig lay-up with 3:37 to play. The Lady Griz would not score again.

* BYU pulled even on a 3-pointer with 2:03 to go, then took a 70-69 lead on a free throw with 1:13 left.

* Konig missed a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left and after a BYU missed shot, Jocelyn Land misfired on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

* Montana's last win over BYU was a 70-67 victory in Provo in 2000-01.

Next up: Montana will play at Kansas State at 10 a.m. (MT) on Tuesday in Manhattan. The Wildcats, who host UTRGV on Sunday, are 2-0 after home wins over Wichita State and Southern Indiana.

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Players Mentioned

Avory DeCoite

Rae Ehrman

Kate Holmquist

Hayden Kaut

Mack Konig

Jocelyn Land

Paige Lofing

Kennedy Moore

Shay Shippen

Avery Waddington

University of Montana Athletics